NewEnergyNews: TROUBLE FOR BIG SUN?/

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

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    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

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    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

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    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

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  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Friday, March 04, 2011

    TROUBLE FOR BIG SUN?

    US CSP project update: Tough year ahead; CSP Today provides a look at the progression of solar thermal projects in the US, those that have broken ground and the unexpected obstacles others are facing.
    Francesca Boothby, 25 February 2011 (CSP Today)

    "…[In] 2010…[t]he US Department of Energy had sped up and finessed its Loan Guarantee Program…Two of the worlds largest solar thermal projects were awarded funds…Abengoa Solar received US$1.45 billion and BrightSource Energy received US$1.4 billion as a conditional award…[In] 2011 however, the outlook is rather different.

    "…Developers are facing two major barriers – litigation and funding…Tessera's Imperial Valley project was threatened by lawsuits from environmentalists and Native American groups. Despite five years of intensive permitting application work at a cost of over US$20 million, and receiving state and federal approval, a US federal judge granted an injunction to halt further development. The Imperial Valley project was sold in mid-February…"


    A concentrating solar power tower plant (click to enlarge)

    "…Tessera's 850 MW Calico project in California ran into complications when the project had trouble lining up financing and lost its PPA with Southern Califronia Edison. The project was sold last December…[and buyer] K Road Sun has since announced that it will convert the first 750MW of the Calico project to solar photovoltaic technology (PV) due to it being a more widely tested technology far more likely to ensure immediate financing and reduce environmental impacts.

    "…Both projects are now ineligible for Recovery Act funding due to failure to break ground in the allotted time…On January 21st Solar Millennium withdrew its 16-month-old license application for a 250-megawatt solar station called Ridgecrest, citing regulators’ concerns over the project’s impact on the Mohave ground squirrel…"


    A parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant (click to enlarge)

    "…[There may be] substantial cuts to the DoE Loan Guarantee program…With litigation and funding problems increasing, the progression of CSP projects is not at all as clear as it was last year. The same environmental litigation which blocked Tessera Solar also seeks to challenge construction of Ivanpah, Genesis solar and Blythe…[although Solar Reserve’] Cross Roads Project [won approvals] in January…[including approval of] the associated transmission line…[perhaps because it] is sited on private not federal land…

    "For developers of solar CSP (and to a lesser extent PV) these environmental hurdles are coupled with government funding which is under threat and already cautious private investors…[Ironicallly,] the potential of these thermal projects to contribute to carbon reduction…may be blocked by those who represent the very people and protected species threatened by global warming."

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